Just as Ma Tianhu was engrossed in planning his work for the coming period, someone suddenly knocked on his office door.
Ma Tianhu furrowed his brow, about to snap at them, but then said, "Come in."
A woman in professional attire and black stockings entered the office. "Young Master, Scarface is dead."
"What?"
Ma Tianhu stood up, his expression full of confusion. "Where did you hear this? Give me the details."
After leaving the barbecue shop last night, Ma Tianhu had arranged for Scarface to take four disciples and deal with Lu Lin. No news had come back yet, and Ma Tianhu had assumed Scarface was busy escaping into the wilderness. He hadn't expected him to be dead.
"It was the Wu'an Bureau. They called to say they found the bodies of five Martial Artists, including Scarface, on Anxin Road. Their preliminary judgment is that it was a revenge killing."
"Anxin Road?" Ma Tianhu wasn't familiar with the area. He checked a map and realized it was a small road near Lu Lin's home.
Could Scarface and the others have been killed by Lu Lin?
Heh.
That answer was utterly ridiculous.
Lu Lin was nothing but a clown. How could he possibly kill a Mid-level Martial Artist like Scarface... Wait, could it have been Liu Qinglong?
That old fox had made up his mind long ago. With the Jiangzuo City Monster Slaying Martial Arts Hall backing him, he'd already been preparing to end his cooperation with the Ma Family. And when Ma Tianhu happened to run into Liu Weiran yesterday, Liu Qinglong must have seen it.
Afterward, the old hand Liu Qinglong had noticed Scarface and the others tailing Lu Lin. So he'd seized the opportunity to kill them, leaving Ma Tianhu completely in the dark.
Well played, Liu Qinglong. You looked like a hulking brute, all brawn and no brains, but it was all an act. Who knew you had so many dirty tricks up your sleeve?
Killing Scarface and the others was one thing, but even notifying the Wu'an Bureau? Ma Tianhu couldn't help praising such an opponent: truly devious.
"All right, you can go."
Ma Tianhu waved for his secretary to leave. Since Liu Qinglong knew he'd been going after Lu Lin, he shouldn't make another move against the boy for a while. Fortunately, Lu Lin was only an Advanced Martial Disciple, nothing to worry about.
Still, Daoba's death bothered Ma Tianhu. It looked like he'd have to bring another Martial Artist over from the family—preferably a High-level Martial Artist. Better still, a Low-level Martial Master.
Meanwhile,
Liu Qinglong, at the headquarters of Liu's Martial Arts School, had also received news of Scarface's death. He couldn't help clapping his hands in delight.
Ma Tianhu was young, but he was quite capable when it came to handling affairs. He wondered which great hero had lopped off the little fox's right-hand man. What a satisfying turn of events!
"Dad, now that Scarface is dead, will Ma Tianhu still force us to cooperate with him? I don't like that guy," Liu Weiran said with a troubled look.
Ma Tianhu hadn't made any particularly inappropriate advances toward her, but she instinctively disliked him.
"We're not cooperating. He came to see me this morning, and I turned him down outright. Anyway, let's leave that topic aside for now, sweetheart. A young prodigy came by this morning. I wonder if you'd like to hear about him."
"No, never mind, Dad. I still have to train. We can talk about it tonight."
Liu Weiran started to leave, but Liu Qinglong said a name that made her stop short.
"Lu Lin."
"What?"
Liu Weiran turned around. "Dad, what did you say? Lu Lin came by this morning?"
"Yeah. Did he come to see you?"
"Of course. Li Jiangtao brought him over especially so I could take a look at him. He's a martial arts prodigy. I thought, this guy has the same name as the sparring partner my daughter's been working with for two years, and he's from the same Martial Arts School too. I never expected it to actually be him."
"He's a fine young man—bright and full of energy, with excellent talent. If we train him well, then after your old man is gone, he might even take over as Hall Master of this school."
"Dad, what are you saying?"
Liu Weiran grew bashful, her cheeks flushing bright red.
She'd thought Lu Lin had been waiting at the Liu's Martial Arts School headquarters specifically to get the Monster Core from her. She hadn't realized she'd misunderstood him. And now her father was teasing her about it. Clearly, he'd seen what happened at the barbecue stall yesterday.
"All right, all right. Go on, and train hard."
Liu Qinglong waved his daughter off. Only after the door had shut did he chuckle quietly to himself, his meaning unclear.
It was already noon by the time Liu Weiran drove to the branch. She entered the Martial Arts School and, out of habit, headed to the Arena Platform she usually used. But Lu Lin was nowhere to be seen.
She stopped a staff member at the entrance to ask, and learned that Lu Lin was on a job in West City. A Martial Artist there needed an advanced sparring partner. Liu Weiran had no choice but to give up and train by herself.
West City Liu's Martial Arts School branch.
Lu Lin took out two fresh Bone Strengthening Ointment patches and stuck them on his waist. The Martial Artist approaching from across the room happened to see and let out a chuckle. "Little Lu, I've been hitting you for ages and you haven't changed your expression once. I thought you didn't feel a thing, you little punk."
This was Lu Lin's client, a High-level Martial Artist named Ren Tian.
He practiced a fierce, domineering style of fist technique and didn't use weapons. His strength, however, was far beyond what Lu Lin could withstand right now. Every punch he landed on Lu Lin added 2 points to Lu Lin's Dragon Roar Golden Bell Shield proficiency.
They hadn't even trained for an hour today, but Lu Lin's Dragon Roar Golden Bell Shield had already reached its second layer.
[Dragon Roar Golden Bell Shield: Second Layer (335/1000)]
"Brother Ren, how could I not feel pain? You're already at the peak of the Martial Artist level, and you're about to become a Martial Master. Seeing how hard I'm working to take your hits, why don't you give me a little extra for the trouble?"
"Not a chance!"
Ren Tian refused outright. "Looks like you've recovered enough. Come on, let's keep going."
Seeing him refuse, Lu Lin could only get back up and resume sparring.
Actually, Ren Tian's Punch Force wasn't that low, but Lu Lin could still handle it.
The leap in strength from High-level Martial Artist to Low-level Martial Master was huge. A High-level Martial Artist needed a Punch Force of 9,000 kilograms, while a Low-level Martial Master needed 30,000 kilograms.
Ren Tian had only just reached the High-level Martial Artist stage and was preparing to break through to Martial Master.
That afternoon, they trained in fits and starts for two hours. Looking at Lu Lin lying on the ground, listless and feigning helplessness, Ren Tian smiled. "Little Lu, you sure can take a beating. I'll look for you again tomorrow."
Before leaving the Martial Arts School, Ren Tian paid the receptionist an extra 10,000 yuan as a tip. That amount was nothing to him; he could make it back by hunting a couple of Monster Beasts. A sparring partner as good as Lu Lin, on the other hand, was hard to find.
The Martial Arts School didn't take a cut of that 10,000 yuan tip. The entire amount went to Lu Lin. When he received the cash, he was so excited he nearly burst into tears.
It hadn't been easy, but he was finally earning money. Tomorrow—first thing tomorrow morning—he'd be standing at the entrance to the West City Martial Arts School, waiting to welcome his esteemed client, Ren Tian.
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